1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an access control apparatus and an access control method that control access to a storage device in which a plurality of file storage regions can be allocated, each of the regions is capable of storing a plurality of files.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern image forming apparatuses are equipped with a large-capacity storage device, such as a hard disk drive. A File storage region referred to as a “box”, for example, can be allocated in such storage device. The “box” corresponds to a “directory” or a “folder” on a personal computer (PC).
A plurality of boxes can be provided separately for different users, for different themes, and for different uses, and it is possible to set password for each box separately to keep files stored in the boxes secure. A technique for setting storage passwords for individual boxes is disclosed in the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. H11-112754.
When a file has been moved or copied between boxes for which passwords have been set (hereinafter, the moving of files to other boxes (i.e., operations where the files do not remain in the original box) and copying of files (i.e., operations where the files remain in the original box) are collectively referred to as “transportation” in the present specification), to access the file after transportation, it is necessary to re-input the password of the box to which the file has been transported. When doing so, if the passwords of both boxes differ, the user will need to remember two passwords. In particular, as the number of boxes with different passwords increases, this can lead to a fall in operability.